Apparatus for forming fibrous strands



API'il 23, 1946- G; sLAY'rER TAL A2,393,808

APPARATUS FOR FORMING FIBROUS ySTRADS Game.; Jacq/cer w .'lel'cherPatented Apr. 23, 1946 APPARATUS FOR FORMING FIBROUS STRANDS Gamesslayter ma Ea michel, Newark, 01110,. assignors to Owens-CorningFiberglas Corporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation oi Deia-- WarevApplication December 9, 1942, Serial No. 468,444

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improved apparatus for manufacturing fibrousmaterial. It relates particularly tothe process of making strands offibrous material from glass and other thermoplastic or hardena-blesubstances -by attenuating the material into fibers while in aplasticstate and collecting the iibersA in a hollow body on a rotating supportand drawing the body of! the support in the direction along the axis ofrotation of the support. As the body of iibers moves past the end of thesupport it is lengthened out and drawn down into the form of a strand ofintermingled fibers.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide improved meansfor `continuously attenu-A ating moiten glass to form a continuous glassfiber and to wind the fiber about a rotatable attenuating support, Vandto feed the body of fibers lengthwise of the support off one end of thelatter at a deiinite controllable rate.

A further object of this invention is to provide means for feeding thebody of fibers lengthwise of the support that includes only yrotatingelements compactly arranged. thereby permitting high speed operation `ofthe apparatus.

Still another object of this invention is to Drovide means to feed thebody of iib'ers lengthwise of the rotatable support so arranged that thesurface of the attenuating member upon which the body of fibers iscollected closely1 approximates a true cylinder. This assures theapplication of a substantially uniform tension to the streams oi' glass`beim; attenuated as the attenuating me1n.

ber rotates. Y

Broadly. the invention provides a rotating' substantially tubularsupport for a body of fibers having spaced openings in its cylindricalwall, and a member within the tubular slipDOrt having a helical groovein its outer surface exposed through the openings in the support toenable portions of i the body of fibers on the support to b'e engaged bythe helical groove. The construction is such that relative rotationbetween the support and member feeds the iibers oil' one end of thesupport.

A still further feature of this invention' is to control the rate offeeding of the fibers oi one end of the support by imparting a rotativemovement at selected speed to the vhelically grooved member in thedirection of rotation of the outer member. In this way the rate offeeding` oi' the fibers off one end of the support may be accomplishedat a relatively slowrate without restricting the speed of rotation ofthe support. As a result. the support may be rotated at very high speedsto attenuate streams of thermoplastic materials to form the fibers.

'I'he foregoing, as well as other obiects, will be made'more apparent asthis description proceeds,

especially` when considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein: A l

Figure 1 is a diagrammaticview of suitable apparatus for carrying outthe invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on theline 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional View taken on the 4line 3-3 of Figure 1;and

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of a slightly modiiied form ofconstruction.

It will be understood as this description proceeds that the presentinvention may be advantageously used in the processing of natural bers.

such as cotton. silk and wool or with the various cellulose compoundscommonly known as artificial silk. For the purpose of illustration,however,

`the invention is shown in connection with the processing of finefilaments of thermoplastic materials such as glass.

Briefly, a body of thermoplastic material such as glass is melted anddivided into a plurality of fine streams. :The streams are attenuated toform illamentsor fibers by the application of a traction or drawingforce to the fibers and pneumatic or mechanical means may be providedfor this purpose. Regardless of the specific attenuating means employed,the bers are collected on a rotating body and are subsequently drawn offone endof the body. The Newman and Romig Re` issue Patent No. 22,078,dated April 21, 1942, discloses and claims. broadly, such a process. Thepresent invention provides 'an improved apparatus foxcarrying out thisand similar processes.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the fibers are wound on arotatable-body and successive convolutions of the nbers arefedlengthwise of the body in response to rotation of the body relativeto a member within the body. The member is formed with a helical groovein the outer surface thereof and the wall of the body is slotted toenable portions of the. fiber convolutions to lie.

in the groove. As a result, rotation of the body re1- atlve to thehelically groored member imparts a movementto the body of fibers in thegeneral direction of the axis oi' rotation of the' body and at a ratedependent upon the speed of relativel rotation between the body andmember. As the fibers move oli the end of the body, they are drawninwardly and axially away iom the body to form a strand by either ablower or a rotatable packaging spool. In either case, relative rotationis maintained between the strand and body so that the bers are twisted.This is especially desirable when packaging the bers on a spool becausethe fibers are held in a compact strand during the packaging operation,and subsequent ease in unwinding of the strand is assured.

In the present instance, the helically grooved member is rotatedindependently of the outer body in orderto control the rate of feedingof the ilbers lengthwise of the body. This arrangement also enables thebody to be rotated at a high rate of speed without placing anylimitations on the minimum rate of feeding of the fibers and, as aresult, the body may be employed to attenuate the streams ofthermoplastic, material atany speed found desirable.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the reference character I3indicates a container or melter adapted to contain a supply of moltenglass. A bushing Il is suitably supported at the bottom of the containerin communication with the supply of molten glass and comprises aplurality of nipples having relatively small orices through which theglass flows in theiorm of streams I2.

The container or melter III and the bushing II diagrammatically shown inthe drawings may be of any suitable construction and no claim is made tothe mechanical details of these structures except in combination withthe novel liber handling mechanism to be presently described."Regardless of the specific construction of the container or melter I andbushing II, the arrangement is such that molten glass nows in vthe formof a stream from each of the bushing orices in response to the action ofsuitable attenuating means. In the present instance, the streams aremechanically attenuated to form continuous flbers by means of a cage I3rotatably supported directly beneath the bushing II in a, position toenable the bers to be wrapped around the same.

Upon reference to Figure 2 of the drawings, it will be noted that thecage is rotatably supported on a spindle Il having a portion at one endjournaled at axially spaced points in bearings I5 on a suitable base I3.The base I6 is located to position thev free end of the spindle I3directly beneath the bushing Il and the cage I3 is rotatably supportedon the free end oi the spindle by bearings I1 and I3.

In detail, the cage I3 is closed at one end by an integral hub portionI@ and is closed at the opposite end by a removable head 23. The. hub I9is formed with a centrally arranged inwardly opening recess 2l toreceive the bearing Il on the free end of the spindle I3 and the head 23is formed with an axially aligned recess 22 to receive the bearing I3 onthe spindle I3. The head 20 is detachably secured to the adjacent end ofthe cage I3 by means of fastener elements 23 and, as a result, the cageis eiectively rotatably supported on the spindle IB. v Y' The head 20has an axial bore freely' receiving the spindle III and is formed withan annular groove 23 intermediate its ends to receive an ordinarydriving belt 23 driven by a prime mover of any suitable type such as theelectric motor 2l.

In the present instance, the cage i3 is driven at a'speed suitable foratten'. ating the streams i3 to form continuous fibers and the latterare wound around the outer surface of the cage to form a cylindricalbody of ber convolutions. The main features of the invention are alsoapplicable to Vthe case where the streams are attenuated by a tion, thebody of be'rs is mechanically fed lengthwise of the cage by acylindrical member 3| keyed to the spindle I3 Within the cage I3. lTheoutside diameter of the member 3I is slightly less than ,the internaldiameter of the cage I3 and helical' grooves 32 are formed on theexterior surface of the member 3l. The helical grooves 32 simulatemultiplescrew threads and are exposed through a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced axially elongated slots 33 formed in the wallof the cage. The slots 33are so related that the bars 34 formed by theportions of the cage wall between the slots are of suicient width toprovide an ample bearing for the fibers. At the same time, the spacingbetween adjacentA bars or. in other words, the width of the slots 33 issuch that the portions of the body of fibers extending between the barslie in the helical'grooves 32 formed on the member 3| in themanner.shown in Figure 3.

Rotation of the cage I3 relative to the member 3| feeds the body ofilbers in the direction of the axis of rotation of the cage toward thehub I3 land finally moves the fibers yoir of the latter end of the cage.This action is facilitated by having A the exterior surface of the cagegradually taperby usual speed change mechanism 38.

ing inwardly fromv the head 20 to the hub I3 at an angle of from 3 to 10degrees more or less depending upon the types of fibers and theparticular material being processed.

Since the body of fibers on the cage moves endwise at a rate dependentupon the pitch of the grooves 32 and the speed of rotation of the cagerelative to the member 3|, the speed of rotation of the cage andsubsequently the speed of attenuation of the fibers would be restrictedby the rate at which the body of nbers is to be fed endwise. For vveryhigh speeds of rotation of the cage it would be necessary to use a verysmall pitch for the grooves 32, which has not been found feasible inpractice. This diiilculty is Aovercome in the present invention byimparting a rotative movement to the feeding member 3E in thesame'direction as the direction of rotation of the cage I3. The member3i is rotated independently of the' cage I3 by means of a driving pulley33 secured to the spindle I3 between the head 23 and the base I3. Thepulley 33 operatively connects the spindle I4 by means of a belt 3l to asuitable source of power represented In the present instance, where thecage I3 is rotated at .a very highspeed in order to attenuate thestreams i2 at an emcient rate, the member 3i is rotated in the samedirection as the cage but at a speed sumciently slower than the speed ofrotation of the cage to obtain the desired rate of movement of thefibers o of the end of the cage.

As the fibers move past the end of the cage, they are drawn axiallyoutwardly and inwardly to form a strand lil. As shown in Figure l, thebody ci bers from the cage is drawn out by winding the strand di arounda packaging spool 32 supported in any suitable manner for rotation at'the desired winding'speed. A suitable traversing mechanism 33, for'instance, a Reece-type roll, is prounwinding of the `surrounding thepassage wall and about which above that rotation of the cage .i3relative to the spool twists the strand of fibers and produces twist isfalse for in effect a yarn. Although this the continuous and unbrokenfibers in the strand, it is highly advantageous because it tends to holdthe fibers together in the strand duringv the winding operation andthereby facilitates subsequent integrity.

The body of fibers moving past the end of the be drawn out by a blowerdesig- 4 by the reference character 46. The blower has a centralcircular passageor eye 41 through which the strand of fibers passes andis provided with an annular gas discharge orifice l 41 to direct anannular blast of gaslengthwse the strand to draw out the body of fibers.This blower may be used independently of or in com-- bination with awinding spool of the kind shown i at 42 in Figure 1. In cases where theblower 46 is used in combination with a winding spool 42, the action ofthe blower relieves the'tension on the strand as it is wound around thespool. This construction is advantageous because it provides arelatively loose package which lends itself more readily to thesubsequent unwinding operation.

Also, by use of the blower the strand may be deposited on a conveyor orin a can or other container where can-packaging is to be practiced.

In most cases, it is desirable to impregnate or treat the strand with asuitable lubricating andA to winding the same on binding material priorthe spool 42. This may be accomplished with the construction shown inFigure 4 by employing .the the desired material v*to the strand. In theabsence of the blower, a spray head may be located adjacent th'e cage I3to direct treating material onto the fibers as they are Wound on thecage or as the body of fibers is pulledoifthe end of the cage and drawndown into a strand. It is also possible to pass the fibers over a pad asthey travel toward the cage and thereby apply the binding andlubricating matethey are wound onto the rial to the fibers before cage.

Various modifications may be made within t'h'e spirit and scope of theappended claims.

We claim:

l. In combination. a hollow rotatable support having circumferentiallyspaced openings in its fibers are adapted to be wound, means forrotating the support, and means responsive to rotation of the support tofeed the fibers wound thereon' lengthwise of the support including acylindrical member received within said hollow support with its outersurface spanning the spaces in th'e wall of said rotatable support andhaving a spiralled groove in said outer surface in engagement with thevfibers on'said support.

2. In combination, a hollow supportl about which a fiber is a'dapted tobe wound, a member located within the support in concentric relationthereto and having a cylindrical outer surface provided with a helicalgroove exposed through openings in the support for receiving the fiber,and means for relatively rotating the support and member to feed thefiber lengthwise of the suport.

3. In combination, a rotatable cage about which a continuous fiber isadapted to be wound strand while maintaining its` of the strand andonto.

and having circumferentially spaced bars extending axially of the cage,and a cylindrical member extending intothe cage 'in concentric relationthereto and having a helical groove in surface thereof for receiving the,portions of the uber convolutions extending between the bars of saidcage.

4. In combination, a rotatable cage about which a continuous fiber isadapted to be wound and having circumferentially spaced bars extendingaxially of the cage, a

cylindrical member extending" into the cage y thereto and having ahelical groove in the 'outer surface thereof for receiving the portionsofthe fiber convolutions extending between the barsof for'rotating thedependently of the cage to control the rate of feeding of the fiber bythe groove in said member.

5. In glass fiber-forming apparatus including, a container for moltenglass provided vwith a multiplicity of glass flows in the form ofcontinuous streams, means for attenuatng the streams to form fibersincluding a rotatable cagehaving circumferentially spaced longitudinallyextending bars about which the fibers are wound, a member extending intothe cage in concentric relation thereto and having'ahelical groove inthe outer surface thereof for receiving portions of the fibers extendingwith portions of the fiber extendingbetween the 'bars and responsive torotation Vof the cage to feed the fiber lengthwise of the cage in thedirection of inclination of the bars.

a 7. In combination,` a rotatable hollow support about which a body offibers is adapted to be wound 'and having circumferentially spaced iopenings in the wall thereof, and means extending concentrically intothe support and having on its outer surface means engageable with por#tions of the b'ody of fibers extending across the openings in thesupport to lengthwise of the support.

8. In combination, a rotatable cage about which a continuous fiber isadapted to be wound andy having circumferentially spaced longitudinallyextending bars inclined relative to the axis of rotation of the cage, amember within the cage in concentric relation thereto and having ahellcal groove in the outer surface thereof for receiving the portionsof tween the cage bars, said groove being arranged to feed the fibers onthe cage in' the direction of inclination of the bars when the cage isrotated relative to said member, and means for independently rotatingthe member to control the rate of' movement of the iiberslengthwise ofthe cage.

9. In glass fiber-forming apparatus including feed the body of nbersmeansfor flowing, streams of molten glass, means i lferentially spacedbars extending the outer in concentric relation member in- I outletopenings through which i'ibers by the helicall the fibers extendingbeformed of circumcylindrical member. within said cage having a. spiralgroovein its outer surface, said cage and member being'so arranged thatthe spiral groove l for rotating said cage and said member at diierentspeeds, and means for drawing out the body of bers as it is moved oi'the end of the cage by the relative rotation between said member andGAMES SLAYTER. ED FLETCHER.

5 cage.

